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White Sox Sign Jacob Scavuzzo

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The White Sox have signed outfielder Jacob Scavuzzo, according to a club announcement. He’ll report to Triple-A Charlotte.

Scavuzzo, 25, posted an intriguing — if unbalanced — .259/.300/.696 slash line in 120 plate appearances at Triple-A with the Padres organization. That wasn’t enough to impressive the San Diego brass, as Scavuzzo’s tally of 15 long balls was accompanied by a worrisome blend of forty strikeouts and just five walks.

A former Dodgers draftee, Scavuzzo has shown the same essential attributes ever since he cracked the pro ranks in 2012, but never to quite these extremes. It’s clear there are some intriguing physical tools to work with, but the South Siders obviously have their work cut out if they are to find a way to help Scavuzzo reach base at a palatable rate.

Marlins Place Rule 5 Pick Riley Ferrell On Outright Waivers

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The Marlins have placed Rule 5 pick Riley Ferrell on outright waivers, per Jake Kaplan of The Athletic (via Twitter). Other organizations will have a chance to claim him; otherwise, he’ll be offered back to the Astros.

Ferrell seemed on track to crack the Marlins’ roster out of camp, but the former third-round pick ended up being forced to the injured list to open the season. He was shifted to the 60-day IL, so was not occupying a 40-man roster spot, but would have needed one upon his activation.

Despite some stops and starts in his rehab work, Ferrell has thrown 10 1/3 innings of 0.87 ERA ball over seven appearances. He allowed just three base hits, but also managed only eight strikeouts against six walks. Evidently, the Marlins weren’t sufficiently impressed to give Ferrell his first MLB opportunity.

Johnny Cueto Still On Track For Potential 2019 Return

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Giants righty Johnny Cueto has been on a relatively aggressive timetable in his effort to work back from Tommy John surgery. He’s still on track for a possible return to the majors this September, as Kerry Crowley of the Bay Area News Group reports.

The 33-year-old Cueto was turning in good results last year when he went down, making it through 53 frames of 3.23 ERA ball. But his velocity was down and the peripherals painted a different picture. His outlook soured quite a bit more when it was determined he’d require a replacement ulnar collateral ligament last August.

Expectations will be modest, but there’s still quite a bit at stake here for the San Francisco organization. Cueto is earning $21MM annually through the 2021 season, with a $5MM buyout due thereafter on a $22MM club option. It’s tough to imagine he’ll be worth anything close to his annual salary moving forward, but every bit of contribution will help the club to stomach its already-fixed financial commitment.

Cueto is still working out at the Giants’ Arizona facility, so he’ll hop over to Chase Field for a ’pen session while the club is in town. If all continues to go well, says Crowley, Cueto could embark upon a rehab assignment in August and be back in the bigs for the final month of the season. That would represent a fast-tracked, though hardly unprecedented return. While the Giants won’t have much to play for, seeing him in action could at least help with the offseason planning.

Reds Reportedly “Open To Adding A Controllable Hitter”

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The Reds are “open to adding a controllable hitter” this summer, according to a recent report from MLB.com’s Jon Morosi (Twitter link).

This bit of scuttlebutt seems mostly to reflect a few self-evident realities about the Cincinnati org’s situation. The Reds have steadily moved back into plausible contention in the National League Central and the NL Wild Card race. The club’s pitching staff has generally performed admirably while its bats have been surprisingly silent. Looking up and down the 2019 stat sheet, you’ll find a whole lot of average or worse hitters on this Cincinnati club.

Doing the math … Quite a few obstacles still separate the team from the postseason, so a present-and-future move would arguably be most sensible. Outwardly, at least, the lineup is an area for improvement. x+y = “controllable hitter.”

But does that really tell us anything about how the Reds will actually approach the deadline? For one thing, there’s still ample uncertainty in the team’s actual competitive position. It’s not hard at all to imagine the club slipping into the status of a rental seller, or stepping up to be a clear rental buyer. The Reds already invested in a series of one-year assets over the winter, so why wouldn’t they consider more if they are in relatively strong position come late July? Even if the club won’t go wild for the best rental pieces, it could certainly see value in some added relief depth and bench bats that make for nice platoon fits.

Neither is the area of need fixed in stone. Entering the year, the questions were in the pitching staff; some may yet arise. While Alex Wood has been sidelined (he’s now on the road back), the team has been quite fortunate to sport a five-man rotation unit that has taken all but one of the team’s starts and performed beyond expectations. The bullpen has been excellent but isn’t without potential questions of its own. Meanwhile, the talented slate of hitters may — some might argue, probably will — get things going in earnest. Rental bat Yasiel Puig is doing just that. Ditto Joey Votto, Jesse Winker, and Nick Senzel, each of whom joined Derek Dietrich in posting a strong past thirty days at the plate. (That includes Dietrich’s late-May burst; he has slumped of late.) Let’s not forget that Scooter Gennett is now on a rehab assignment, too.

It isn’t entirely obvious what position would best be targeted, either. You could say catcher, but good luck finding a quality, controllable bat in that spot. The outfield is far from perfect, but it looks increasingly accounted for with Puig and Winker hitting alongside Senzel. With Gennett’s return, Dietrich may need to find more of his opportunities on the grass. The left side of the infield isn’t exactly mashing, but Eugenio Suarez is a fixture at third and Jose Iglesias has provided excellent value at shortstop.

It’s always worth paying attention to indications of a team’s own assessment of its needs. But this particular early signal seems a bit too vague to have all that much informational value in divining the shape of the summer trade market. The Reds are certainly an interesting team to watch. They may well end up in a sort of opportunistic hold position, standing pat with most current MLB assets while exploring the addition of a controllable hitter at some position or another. But it seems just as likely that the club will end up simply selling a few of its pending free agents or buying a couple of veteran bench pieces.

14 Former Big Leaguers Hitting Well On Minor-League Deals

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This time of year, plenty of teams have a need for gap-filling players — some of whom can end up with more expansive opportunities. Sometimes clubs go with younger options, but there’s often good reason to go with a familiar player who has already spent ample time at the game’s highest level. Of course, you’ll also prefer a player who is active and performing well against the next-best thing to MLB pitching.

I thought it’d be interesting to round up some hitters who could be considered by their own teams or others over the coming weeks and months. Each of these 14 players has at least two years of MLB service but was forced to settle for a minor-league deal over the offseason. They’re also each turning in better-than-league-average production, though you’ll want to bear in mind that the outwardly gaudy numbers were logged in exceedingly hitter-friendly offensive environments.

Abraham Almonte, OF, Diamondbacks: The journeyman is one of several Arizona outfielders to warrant placement on this list. Indeed, his performance is arguably the most surprising and interesting of all. Almonte isn’t just on a hot run with the stick. He’s showing impeccable plate discipline (43 strikeouts vs. 41 walks) and heretofore unseen power (ten home runs, .279 ISO). Almonte has also swiped eight bags. Not a bad stat line for a center-field capable player.

Brandon Barnes, OF, Indians: Though he has seen just 21 MLB plate appearances since the end of the 2016 season, the former Astros and Rockies outfielder is clamoring for attention right now at Triple-A. He’s off to a .297/.352/.581 slash with 15 homers and five steals through 256 plate appearances. He was similarly impressive last year at the highest level of the minors, albeit in a very different offensive environment.

Andres Blanco, INF, Braves: Blanco’s late-career renaissance with the Phillies faded in 2017, but he has been turning in strong offensive numbers at Triple-A ever since. He didn’t earn a call-up despite a nice showing last year with the Brewers’ top affiliate. This year, Blanco owns a .261/.371/.450 slash with tetn long balls through 294 plate appearances. Perhaps his luck will be different this time around, though it’s tough to see a path up in Atlanta.

Drew Butera, C, Rockies: He has already been up and down to the majors this year, accepting an assignment back at Triple-A after clearing waivers. Nobody really thinks the veteran backstop — 36 in August — is a sudden offensive powerhouse. But hey, it’s a nice to see the glove-first performer enjoy a good run at this late stage of his career. He’s drawing walks at a 16.1% clip against a 17.9% strikeout rate and carries an appealing .311/.429/.467 batting line through 112 plate appearances at Albuquerque.

Danny Espinosa, INF, Mets: Espinosa had his moments over the years with the Nats, but there were times when his plate discipline reached untenable levels. It seemed he was all but done for after a brutal run over the past two years. But the switch-hitting middle infielder is showing new life at Syracuse, where he carries a .256/.340/.462 slash along with 11 home runs and eight steals. He’s striking out at a pleasing 21.1% rate while walking 10.5% of the time.

Ryan Flaherty, INF, Indians: Flaherty never turned the corner for the Orioles and couldn’t sustain a hot start last year with the Braves. Now, he’s turning in solid work at Triple-A with the Cleveland org. His .265/.370/.455 batting line is only good for a 108 wRC+, but that’s a notable enough showing for a guy who was valued a fair bit for his versatile glovework.

Ryan Goins, INF, White Sox: Say it with me, Jays fans: “I told you so!!!” Many of the Toronto faithful were sad to see Goins depart, though he was never much of an offensive performer. Now? He’s walking (12.9%) and slugging (.503) at personal-high rates. He’s now through 224 plate appearances of .314/.404/.503 hitting (133 wRC+) for the Sox’ top affiliate.

Logan Morrison, 1B, Yankees: It’s not clear whether there’s any chance the Yankees can shoehorn LoMo into their roster, but if not he might well end up elsewhere. Morrison is showing some signs that his power stroke could be back; through 120 plate appearances, he has recorded nine long balls and sports a .318 ISO/.564 SLG. He isn’t getting on base as much as one might like, but he isn’t striking out much either.

Chris Parmelee, 1B/OF, Dodgers: He didn’t even appear with an affiliated team last year, but the former Twins and O’s big leaguer is back in action at the Double-A level for the Dodgers. He’s striking out at a 27.2% clips but drawing walks at an even more robust rate (16.0%) and driving the ball (eight home runs, .239 ISO).

Jace Peterson, INF, Orioles: Peterson has appeared with four MLB organizations in his five seasons of action. He’s currently busy tamping down on the strikeouts that crept into his game (13.7% strikeout rate vs 11.9% walk rate) and showing a bit of a power boost (six homers, .178 ISO) at Triple-A with the O’s.

Rob Refsnyder, INF/OF, Reds: Though he couldn’t stick with the Yankees and Rays, Refsnyder is making another bid for the majors after an early season trade sent him from the D-Backs’ top affiliate to that of the Cincinnati organization. Refsnyder is a bit BABIP-reliant (.410) but is obviously making good contact, as he’s through 233 plate appearances of .325/.395/.522 hitting.

Travis Snider, OF, Diamondbacks: It seems hard to believe that Snider is still just 31 years of age and hasn’t sniffed the big league since way back in 2015. He’s edging back on the map now with an interesting return to the affiliated ranks after a year away. Through 232 plate appearances, the left-handed hitter has drawn 39 walks against 49 strikeouts while also managing to put the ball over the fence six times.

Matt Szczur, OF, Diamondbacks: Now a month away from his 30th birthday, Szczur is showing newfound power — albeit in a fairly small sample. Through 112 plate appearances with the Snakes’ top affiliate, he has a whopping .303 isolated power mark and seven dingers.

Ruben Tejada, INF, Mets: The 29-year-old is back with the Mets organization after a fairly memorable career opening there. He hasn’t touched the majors since 2017 but is busy raising eyebrows at Triple-A. Through 109 plate appearances, Tejada has as many walks as strikeouts and a cool .359/.450/.576 batting line.

A few other interesting or notable minor-league hitters who are performing well but did not quite meet all the list’s specifications: Dilson Herrera & Arismendy Alcantara (only 1+ years MLB service);  Mikie Mahtook & Yasmany Tomas (not on minor-league deals); Yadiel Hernandez (signed a minor-league deal out of Cuba but has yet to debut in majors)

Mets Fire Pitching Coach Dave Eiland

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4:11pm: The Mets officially announced the coaching changes, including the additional news that Jeremy Accardo has been named the team’s “pitching strategist,” a newly-created role.  Accardo had previously been working as New York’s minor league pitching coordinator following two years as a pitching and bullpen coach in the Mets’ farm system.

2:35pm: Phil Regan will take over for Eiland, per Mike Puma of the New York Post (via Twitter). The former MLB hurler managed the Orioles for one season (1995) and has plenty of coaching experience. The 82-year-old has been involved with the Mets organization for some time and had been listed as pitching coordinator of the team’s minor league/player development group.

Ricky Bones will take over as the bullpen coach; he had served in that role last season but was replaced by Hernandez.

2:07pm: The Mets have parted ways with pitching coach Dave Eiland, per a report from James Wagner of the New York Times (via Twitter). Bullpen coach Chuck Hernandez is also on his way out, per Joel Sherman of the New York Post (Twitter link). Plans for replacements aren’t yet known.

Eiland had been hired in advance of the 2018 season. He was a key hire for the staff of then-rookie skipper Mickey Callaway, who was himself a former pitching coach. Before coming to New York, Eiland had long guided the hurlers for the Royals.

This move comes as the Mets continue to sink in the standings. Their rotation hasn’t been quite the exceptional unit it was expected to be, while the bullpen has been an unmitigated disaster. That’s obviously not entirely the fault of these pitching instructors, but they’ll take the fall in hopes that a mid-season shakeup can deliver improved results.

MLB Authorizes Rays To Explore Montreal Season Split

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3:04pm: St. Petersburg mayor Rick Kriseman does not sound quite as enthused by the idea as Sternberg. He says he previously informed the club that the city would not authorize talks with Montreal, John Romano of the Tampa Bay Times tweets.

12:46pm: In an eyebrow-raising development, Major League Baseball has granted authorization to the Tampa Bay Rays to explore the possibility of becoming a two-city franchise. The approval will allow the organization to pursue concepts in which the team would split its home games between Florida and Montreal. Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times first tweeted the news and has more in a story.

Notably, this does not mean that the Rays necessarily will move to Montreal. Even a part-time move would likely not occur for several seasons. Rather, commissioner Rob Manfred says there’s a “broad grant” for Rays owner Stu Sternberg to build out options, as Evan Drellich of The Athletic tweets.

In a statement, Sternberg says he remains “committed to keeping baseball in Tampa Bay for generations to come.” But he says he also believes “this concept” — referring to some kind of Montreal split — “is worthy of serious exploration.”

It’s hard to fathom a situation where a Florida/Montreal split represents a long-term solution. Presumably, that’d mean building (or rehabbing) and operating facilities in both cities, creating untold logistical hurdles on top of those that already exist.

As things stand, the Rays are contractually obliged to play at the Trop through the 2027 campaign. Getting local authorities to release even a portion of home games seems like a challenge. League owners and the MLBPA will surely want to see details and have quite a few questions answered. And with conceivable two-market opportunities come vast potential inefficiencies.

Montreal has a storied history with the game of baseball. But the club lost the Expos to D.C. after the 2004 season and hasn’t hosted a big-league club since. The city has hosted some late-spring contests at Olympic Stadium, but that venue poses many of the same issues presented by the Rays’ current home at Tropicana Field.

While this development does more to create possibilities than answer questions about the club’s future, it comes with immediate consequences. The Rays have struggled to gain traction in stadium talks in the St. Petersburg/Tampa area. Recent plans for an Ybor City complex fell flat, leaving Sternberg and company looking for new options — and, no doubt, also some leverage.

Marlins Designate Peter O’Brien

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The Marlins have designated corner infielder/outfielder Peter O’Brien for assignment, per a club announcement. His roster spot was needed to make way for righty Zac Gallen, whose promotion is now official.

O’Brien had been on optional assignment for much of the year. To clear an active roster spot, the team optioned hurler Jeff Brigham.

While the Fish entered the year resolved to give O’Brien a shot, he just didn’t hit enough to stay in the big leagues. The 28-year-old carried a 135 wRC+ in a 22-game stint last year but dropped to 45 in his 47 plate appearances in the present campaign. He was slashing a healthier .278/.361/.556 with five home runs in 61 trips to the dish at Triple-A.

Royals Place Adalberto Mondesi On 10-Day IL, Designate Ben Lively

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The Royals announced a series of roster moves today. Shortstop Adalberto Mondesi is headed to the 10-day injured list with a groin injury. His placement is backdated to the 19th.

To replace Mondesi on the active roster, the club selected the contract of infielder Humberto Arteaga. Righty Ben Lively was designated for assignment to open a 40-man spot.

The Royals are going nowhere fast in 2019, and there doesn’t appear to be any long-term concern, so the loss of Mondesi should be only a temporary blip. The 23-year-old switch-hitter hasn’t been quite as good with the bat this year as last, but he has been close enough to league average at the plate and good enough in the field and on the bases to rack up 2.2 fWAR.

Lively was knocked around in his only MLB outing of the year. He carries a 4.07 ERA in 42 frames at Triple-A, with a 41:19 K/BB ratio. The 27-year-old as had his share of chances over the years but has not yet managed to hold down a steady big league job.

Hal Steinbrenner On Yankees’ Spending & Deadline Plans

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At the recent owners’ meeting, Yankees boss Hal Steinbrenner chatted about the summer trade period, as David Lennon of Newsday was among those to report. Unsurprisingly, Steinbrenner made clear he expects starting pitching to be the focus for the Yanks now that slugger Edwin Encarnacion is in the fold. But his most interesting comments were related to the team’s financial approach.

Notably, the top organizational decisionmaker expressed some willingness to consider deals that’d put the team into a higher luxury tax bracket. Estimates put the Yanks at about $15MM of salary (as calculated for competitive balance tax purposes) shy of the $246MM payroll line, at which point a team would pay 62.5% tax on spending over the first luxury line and see its next top draft choice fall by ten spots.

Steinbrenner says he’d okay a decision that triggers those penalties, “if I really felt we needed that deal, that it takes us over the top.” That’s a bit of a different position than was enunciated recently by GM Brian Cashman, who indicated that the team wass “trying to stay under the second luxury tax penalty” when it capped its offer to free agent starter Dallas Keuchel.

That’s not to say that Steinbrenner necessarily expects to need to make such a call. He noted that the club has “a decent amount of cushion” before it’d reach the top tax bracket. That’s true, though there are certainly some high-end players who’d be of potential interest that would require the Yanks to do some soul-searching — or find creative means of shedding other salary.

If you don’t want to take on money, you typically have to give up good young talent. The Yankees’ current roster is loaded with bats, leading many to wonder whether outfielder Clint Frazier will be dangled. Steinbrenner said he believes Frazier has a “great career a head of him” and expects the youngster to be “a big part of this team going forward,” though he certainly also left conceptual room for a deal.

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